12 Essential Lesser-Known Power-Pop Songs

You already listen to Cheap Trick, Big Star and the Raspberries. Now hear a dozen irresistibly upbeat tunes by smaller bands made between 1977 and 1983.

Clockwise from top left: album art for the Shivvers, the Mumps, the Jags and the Rubinoos.

By Brian Raftery

Published May 13, 2020Updated May 14, 2020

It was the summer of 1979, and parts of the world were in a state of near-surrender: In Britain, millions were reeling from the infamous “Winter of Discontent,” in which freezing temperatures and hot-tempered labor strikes left many people jobless, and some London streets buried in trash. Anxious Americans were fuming over the country’s second oil shortage in less than a decade, eventually prompting President Jimmy Carter to declare a nationwide “crisis of confidence.”

But in record stores, there was a fast-acting antidote to this ongoing malaise: The eternally youthful, perpetually tuneful genre known as power pop, which by 1979 was dominating vinyl bins and “American Bandstand.” That year alone would see seminal new releases from Cheap Trick, the Beat, the Knack and Shoes — bands that merged commanding power chords with sticky, Beatles-obliged melodies.

They were among the biggest names in a movement that lasted from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, in which hundreds of bands released irresistible, radio-ready singles brimming with contagious choruses, shame-free (and sometimes shameless) over-harmonizing and no shortage of love-struck longing.

Of course, most of the best power-pop numbers never made it to the airwaves: The genre wasn’t as credible as punk, or as cool as new wave. And some of its finest practitioners were regional bands who — whether thanks to snobbery or geography — couldn’t win over tastemakers in London or Los Angeles. Yet over the last few decades, great care has been taken in honoring these shoulda-been stars, whose work has been preserved in overstuffed compilations and Spotify playlists. Together, they offer a sort of secret Top 40 of lost hits and near-misses.

The 12 tracks below don’t include numbers from well-known, widely respected power-pop acts like Big Star or the Raspberries. Instead, they focus on bands that, for the most part, are known largely to obsessive fans and collectors. And they all deliver on the same promise: To distract listeners from the problems around them, and to remind them of a simpler time of breakups, make-ups and long-distance telephone hang-ups.

The Shivvers, ‘Teen Line’ (1980)

Few songs encapsulate power pop’s giddy, naïve optimism like this three-and-a-half-minute sparkler, a love song that’s as anxious and assured as young romance itself. “Last night, I got a call on the telephone/As long as it can ring, I’m not alone,” proclaims the Shivvers frontwoman Jill Kossoris, channeling her inner teen with the help of a chiming guitar line that hooks just like Buddy Holly. “Teen Line” was one of several boppers from this Milwaukee combo (also check out the hand-clapped chorus and gnarly soloing on the group’s “Please Stand By”).

The Records, ‘Girl’ (1979)

Among vinyl devotees, the Records will be forever known for the dizzying late-70s single “Starry Eyes” — a modest United States radio hit upon release, and a staple of compilations to this day (and rightfully so). But deep-cuts like “Girl” demonstrate the British group’s soft powers. Led by the vocalist John Wicks, who died in 2018, the Records always seemed more indebted to studio-trained, throwback pop acts than the more caustic punk of the time. The result was songs like “Girl,” which unites charging guitar riffs with the sort of airy, all-hands-on-deck harmonies even the Hollies would have envied.

Treble Boys, ‘Julie-Anne’ (1983)

Like many of their ’80s contemporaries, Treble Boys didn’t remain in power (or in power pop) for long: After forming in New York City in late 1981, the band was quickly embraced by the CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, even landing a slot on the club’s short-lived TV show. Barely two years later, the group was gone — but not before leaving behind this indelible Boys-meet-girl tale of a doomed dance floor crush. Kicking off with a percolating electro-beat, “Julie-Anne” soon gives way to dreamy waves of guitar lines and a sugary, synth-assisted chorus. It’s all over before you quite know what hit you, but like so many short-lived flirtations, “Julie-Anne” lingers long afterward.

The Mumps, ‘Muscleboys’ (1978)

Not long after Lance Loud’s famed appearance on “An American Family” — the landmark 1973 reality-TV series in which Loud came out to his family, and to the world — he moved to New York City and became the frontman for this influential glam-punk-pop outfit. The Mumps’ “Muscleboys” is a stomping blast of lovestruck wistfulness, bolstered by Loud’s Tarzan-like kickoff cry and a jubilant chorus. It’s also a rare example of a happily, openly queer anthem in the all-too-hetero domain of power pop — not to mention a primo workout song in its own right.

20/20, ‘Yellow Pills’ (1979)

With its walloping keyboards, blistering guitars and eerie sci-fi vibe, “Yellow Pills” is about as ominous-sounding as power pop gets — a chronicle of zonked-out bliss with an appropriately amped-up opening verse: “Everybody’s feeling groovy/Everybody’s got tight pants on/’Cause everybody feels like they were/Just made by the creator.” Based out of Los Angeles, 20/20 was tipped for mainstream superstardom (“This is gonna be their year,” Dick Clark declared during the group’s 1980 “American Bandstand”performance). The band dissolved a few years later, but the legacy of “Yellow Pills” would groove on for decades, its name eventually inspiring a beloved power-pop fanzine and compilation series.

The Jags, ‘Back of My Hand’ (1979)

The British group the Jags had everything you could have wanted from a late-70s power-pop act: colorful suits, a cool name and a logo that even the Strokes would envy. Thankfully, they also had some equally ace tunes, most notably this taut, semi-menacing rocker about a jilted guy expressing his many frustrations to the voice on the other line. “Back of My Hand” arrived just a few years after the Nerves’ seminal (and Blondie-covered) “Hanging on the Telephone,” and a few years before Tommy Tutone’s hit “867-5309/Jenny” — proof that no genre captured the era’s many missed connections quite like power pop.

The Chefs, ‘24 Hours’ (1981)

There are unmistakable traces of post-punk in this spiffy, spiky charmer, which features shambling guitars, an unfussy bass line and sparse production. But the frontwoman Helen McCookerybook injects a half-dozen or so hooks in each verse, and the song’s delightful chorus — “I’d really, really, really like to be friends with you” — is essentially a power-pop mantra. Purists can feel free to argue about whether this has enough “power” to fit on this list; the rest of us can simply hum “24 Hours” all day.

The Rubinoos, ‘I Never Thought It Would Happen’ (1977)

The Rubinoos from Berkeley have managed one of the longest power-pop life spans in history, from their first hit — a pre-Tiffany cover of Tommy James and the Shondells’ “I Think We’re Alone Now” — to a new studio album released last year. (In between, the band members filed a highly publicized lawsuit, since settled, against Avril Lavigne over her 2007 hit “Girlfriend.”) “I Never Thought It Would Happen” is one of their finest second-tier singles, a roller-rink-ready jam with swan-diving guitar lines and gently boogieing piano.

The Tweeds, ‘I Need That Record’ (1980)

This Connecticut quartet certainly didn’t lack moxie: their members carried business cards that read “THE TWEEDS: ROCK N ROLL … the way you want it!” But that kind of confidence is justified by tracks like “I Need That Record.” You can hear the roots of future alt-rock acts like Sloan in the first 10 seconds of this dynamo number, which is full of hot-rodding riffs and high-energy yelps. It never became a record-store staple itself, but the song would be rediscovered — along with the Treble Boys’ “Julie-Anne” — on the crucial skinny-tie primer “Buttons: Starter Kit” from 2012.

Rich Kids, ‘Ghost of Princes in Towers’ (1978)

Glen Matlock formed this British act immediately after leaving (or was it escaping?) the chaos of the Sex Pistols. And while Rich Kids proved far less anarchic than the bassist’s previous gig, songs like “Ghost of Princes in Towers” — the title track from the band’s one-and-done LP — retain the Pistols’ sullen, snarling energy. It’s a class-angst anthem with a pure-pop heart, featuring sweeping vocals from future Ultravox singer Midge Ure.

Off Broadway, ‘Stay in Time’ (1979)

Chicago served as a home base for several combos with killer tracks and wonderfully goofy names — including Pezband and All-Night Newsboys — that never quite conquered the world beyond the Midwest. But Off Broadway certainly came close, landing a major label deal and opening slots for Cheap Trick. “Stay in Time,” which found its fair share of airplay at the time, captures the band’s ticking-clock pop precision, as well as the frontman Cliff Johnson’s casually cosmic vocals.

The Telefones, ‘Rocket Rocket’ (1980)

With its mix of scuzzy garage-rock energy and pristine melodies, this rapid-fire track from Dallas’s the Telefones sounds like a lo-fi, home-recorded mini-masterpiece that was thrown together and put on Bandcamp just last week. And while “Rocket Rocket” is as far as one can get from late-70s power pop sheen, and you’ll be repeating the whispered chorus long after you’ve finished reading this list.